JSLI Ordained Rabbi Jonathan Cohen leads the way at Oraynu in Toronto

Rabbi Jonathan Cohen began serving as Oraynu’s congregational rabbi during the 2021 High Holidays. A longtime law professor at the University of Florida, Rabbi Cohen received his M.A. in Jewish Studies from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and rabbinical ordination through the Jewish Leaders Spiritual Institute. He holds A.B., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Harvard University, where he also received his law degree.

Oraynu is a welcoming community founded on secular humanistic ideals and dedicated to enhancing our Jewish heritage and identity. We celebrate and explore our rich Jewish culture and history without religious dogma or appeals for supernatural intervention, understanding Judaism in the context of human history. We look to human reason and human power as our fundamental vehicles for improving the world.  We seek to live in integrity with what we believe.

Rabbi Cohen’s passion for Humanistic Judaism is two-fold. First, it is a place where people can say what they mean and mean what they say:  they can be honest about what they believe and what they don’t believe. Second, he believes that Humanistic Judaism offers a large and welcoming “tent”: a place where atheists, agnostics, and theists can all participate in the search for meaningful Jewish life.